A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §8-15B-1, §8-15B-2,
§8-15B-3, §8-15B-4 and §8-15B-5, all relating to meeting and
conference rights for members of police or fire departments
employed by political subdivisions; providing for the right of
these members to self-organization; allowing designation of an
exclusive representative agent; imposing a duty to meet and
confer with employees; allowing deduction of employee
organization dues and assessments; providing for compulsory
arbitration of disputes; listing prohibited acts; allowing
hearing before Civil Service Commission; providing judicial
review; specifying powers and duties of the Civil Service
Commission; and allowing injunctive relief.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §8-15B-1, §8-15B-2, §8-15B-3, §8-15B-4 and §8-15B-5, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 15B. MEETING AND CONFERENCE RIGHTS FOR MEMBERS OF POLICE
OR FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

§8-15B-1. Definitions.

As used in this article:

(a) "Commission" means the policemen’s or firemen’s Civil
Service Commission provided in article fourteen or fifteen of this
chapter.

(b) "Employee organization" means any association,
organization, federation or council composed of police officers or
firefighters having as one of its purposes the representation of
its members in negotiations with a political subdivision.

(c) "Firefighter" means any person, other than a fire chief,
employed as a fireman on a full-time basis by a political
subdivision if the person is covered by the civil service
provisions of article fifteen of this chapter.

(d) "Policeman" means any person, other than a police chief,
employed as a police officer on a full-time basis by a political
subdivision if the person is covered by the civil service
provisions of article fourteen of this chapter.

(e) "Political subdivision" means, and is limited to, any
municipality within the state.

(f) "Strike" means the failure to report for duty as a result
of concerted action with an employee organization, the willful
absence from one’s position, the stoppage of work or the
abstinence, in whole or in part, from the full, faithful and proper
performance of the duties of employment or any manner of
interference with the operation of any police or fire department of
a political subdivision for the purpose of inducing, influencing or
coercing a change in the conditions or compensation or the rights,
privileges or obligations of employment.

§8-15B-2. Right to self-organization and exclusiverepresentation;
dues.

(a) Firefighters and policemen have, and are protected in the
exercise of, the right of self-organization to form and join any
employee organization, to meet and confer with their employers
through representatives of their own choosing on questions of
wages, hours and other conditions of employment, except to strike,
for the purpose of contracting for rights, free from actual
interference, restraint or coercion: Provided, That an employee
organization duly designated to represent the firefighters or
policemen employed by a political subdivision shall be the
exclusive contracting agent for all firefighters or policemen so
employed. The organization shall act, negotiate agreements and
contract for rights for all firefighters or policemen and is
responsible for representing the interests of all firefighters or
policemen.

(b) An employee organization claiming to represent a majority
of the firefighters or policemen of a political subdivision shall
be recognized as the exclusive contracting agent by the political
subdivision upon the presentation of a petition or other document
in which a majority of the firefighters or policemen employed by
the political subdivision designates the employee organization as
their exclusive contracting agent. In the event that a political
subdivision has a good faith doubt as to the majority status of the
employee organization it shall, within thirty days of the receipt
of the petition or document, request its Civil Service Commission
to conduct a secret ballot election within thirty days of the
receipt of the request. The commission shall certify the results
of the election within three days after the election. Following
recognition or certification and, upon the written authorization of
any firefighter or policeman, the political subdivision shall
deduct from the payroll of the firefighter or policeman the monthly
amount of dues or assessments of the employee organization as
certified by the secretary of the employee organization and shall
deliver the same to the employee organization’s treasurer no later
than the last day of the month following the deduction.

§8-15B-3. Board of arbitration; duty to meet and confer with
employees and arbitrate; procedures.

(a) The political subdivision and the employee organization
recognized or certified as the exclusive contracting agent shall
contract for all employees’ rights. Representatives of the
political subdivision and the employee organization shall meet at
reasonable times, including meetings appropriately related to the
budget making process, and shall confer in good faith with respect
to wages, hours and other conditions of employment, or the
negotiation of an agreement or any questions arising thereunder,
and shall execute a written contract incorporating any agreement
reached, and neither party may be compelled to agree to a proposal
or make a concession.

(b) If, after a reasonable period of negotiations concerning
wages, hours and other conditions of employment, a dispute exists
between the political subdivision and the employee organization, or
if no agreement has been reached on wages, hours and other
conditions of employment sixty days prior to the final date for the
setting of the budget of the political subdivision, either party or
the parties jointly may request arbitration of the issue or issues
in dispute by a board of arbitration. The board of arbitration
shall be composed of three persons, one appointed by the political
subdivision, one appointed by the employee organization and a third
member to be agreed upon by the parties. The members of the board
representing the political subdivision and the employee
organization shall be named within five days from the date of the
request for the appointment of the board. If, after a period of
five days from the date of the appointment of the two arbitrators
appointed by the political subdivision and the employee
organization, the third arbitrator has not been mutually agreed
upon, then either arbitrator may request the federal mediation and
conciliation service to furnish a list of five members from its
list of arbitrators. Within five days after the receipt of the
list, the representative of the political subdivision and the
employee organization shall each strike two names from the list.
The individual whose name remains on the list is the third
arbitrator. The third arbitrator is the chairman of the board of
arbitration.

(c) The chairman of the board of arbitration shall establish
reasonable dates and places of hearing. Any hearings involved
shall be conducted in accordance with the rules established for
arbitration by the American arbitration association. The rules of
evidence promulgated by the Supreme Court of Appeals do not apply.
The chairman may issue subpoenas and administer oaths. Upon
completion of the hearings and within fifteen days, the board of
arbitration shall make findings of fact and render a decision. The
decision is final and binding upon both parties, except as provided
in subsection (d) of this section. The compensation, if any, for
the appointed arbitrator will be paid by the political subdivision.
The compensation and expenses of the third arbitrator, as well as
all stenographic and other expenses incurred by the arbitration
board in connection with arbitration proceedings, shall be paid
equally by the parties.

(d) Prior to invoking the arbitration procedure provided in
this article, the political subdivision and the employee
organization shall submit to each other a final settlement offer on
all unresolved issues. The arbitration panel is limited, after
hearing, to resolving the dispute by adopting, on an issue by issue
basis, the final offer of either the political subdivision or the
employee organization. In making its decision, the panel shall
consider the following:

(1) Prior agreements, if any, between the political
subdivision and the employee organization;

(2) Comparison of the issues submitted to final offer
settlement relative to the employees in the contracting unit
involved with those issues related to other public and private
employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to factors
peculiar to the area and classification involved;

(3) The interests and welfare of the public, the ability of
the public employer to finance and administer the issues proposed
and the effect of the adjustments on the normal standard of public
service;

(4) The lawful authority of the public employer;

(5) Any stipulations of the political subdivision and the
employee organization;

(6) Any other factors, not confined to those listed in this
section, which are normally or traditionally taken into
consideration in the determination of issues submitted to final
offer settlement through voluntary conference, mediation, fact-finding or other impasse resolution procedures in public service or
in private employment.

(e) Any arbitration decision as well as any written agreement
between a political subdivision and an employee organization
determining the terms and conditions of employment of firefighters
and policemen shall contain the following notice: "It is agreed by
the parties that any provision contained herein requiring
legislative action to permit its implementation by amendment of law
or by providing the additional funds therefor, will not become
effective until the appropriate legislative body has given
approval."

§8-15B-4. Prohibited acts; hearings.

(a) Political subdivisions are prohibited from:

(1) Interfering with, restraining or coercing firefighters or
policemen in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by this
article;

(2) Dominating or interfering with the formation or
administration of any employee organization;

(3) Discharging or otherwise discriminating against a
firefighter or policeman because he or she has signed or filed any
petition, affidavit or complaint or given information or testimony
pursuant to this article;

(4) Refusing to meet and confer in good faith with any
employee organization which has been recognized or certified as the
exclusive contracting agent of the firefighters or policemen;

(5) Refusing to discuss grievances with the agent of the
policemen or firefighters; or

(6) Refusing to abide by a valid arbitration decision.

(b) Employee organizations are prohibited from:

(1) Restraining or coercing a firefighter or policeman in the
exercise of his or her rights guaranteed under this article;

(2) Causing or attempting to cause a political subdivision to
discriminate against a firefighter or policeman in violation of
subsection (a) of this section;

(3) Refusing to meet and confer in good faith with a political
subdivision;

(4) Striking against or withholding their members’ services
from a political subdivision: Provided, That firefighters or
policemen who are absent from work without permission are presumed
to have engaged in a strike unless evidence of illness or other
good cause is presented by each firefighter or policeman for each
absence; or

(5) Refusing to abide by a valid arbitration decision.

(c) Any firefighter or policeman who engages in a concerted
strike against a political subdivision or withholds services from
a political subdivision shall be suspended from duty for a period
not to exceed six months without pay, and the employee organization
to which any striking firefighter or policeman belongs shall lose
its right for six months to have the monthly amount of dues
withheld for all of its members’ pay by the employer. The
treasurer or chief financial officer of the political subdivision
may not issue any warrant or check to any suspended firefighter or
policeman for the payment of wages which might otherwise be payable
during that period, nor may the treasurer or chief financial
officer issue any warrant or check for the monthly amount of dues
of members of the employee organization to that organization as
required by subsection (b), section two of this article.

(d) Any private citizen of a political subdivision against
which a prohibited act has been committed may seek a writ of
mandamus or any other remedy which is authorized by law to enforce
compliance with this subdivision by any treasurer or chief
financial officer.

(e) (1) Any firefighter or policeman, employee organization or
political subdivision which has reasonable cause to believe that a
violation of this section has occurred may file a complaint with
the commission and serve a copy on each person, employee
organization or political subdivision involved.

(2) The commission may make and enter an order dismissing the
complaint or may conduct an investigation or hold a hearing on the
complaint. The firefighter or policeman, employee organization or
political subdivision so complained of have the right to file an
answer to the complaint, or any amended complaints, within twenty
days after the service of the complaint. If a hearing is ordered,
the commission shall set the time and place for the hearing, which
time and place may be changed by the commission at the request of
one of the parties for good cause shown.

(3) The firefighter or policeman, employee organization or
political subdivision may appear in person or otherwise defend
against the complaint. In the discretion of the commission any
other person may be allowed to intervene in the proceedings.

(4) The commission is not bound by the rules of evidence
promulgated by the Supreme Court of Appeals and the commissioner
has the power of subpoena and to administer oaths. A transcript of
the testimony taken at any hearing before the commission shall be
filed in the office of the commission, and be opened for inspection
by either of the parties or their authorized representatives. The
commission shall bear the cost of producing the transcript.

(f)(1) If, upon all the testimony and evidence, the commission
determines that a prohibited practice has been committed, it shall
state its findings of fact in writing and shall issue and cause to
be served on the party committing the prohibited practice an order
requiring the employee organization or the political subdivision to
cease and desist from the prohibited practice. The commission may
take any further affirmative action as will comply with the
provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, the
withdrawal of certification of an employee organization established
by or assisted in its establishment by any prohibited practice.

(2) If, upon all the testimony and evidence, the commission
determines that a prohibited practice has not been or is not being
committed, it shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of
law and shall issue an order dismissing the complaint.

(g) In the event that a firefighter or policeman, employee
organization or political subdivision refuses to comply with an
order from the commission and fails to appeal the order as
hereinafter provided, the commission shall request the Attorney
General of West Virginia to seek injunctive relief in the circuit
court of the county where the prohibited act was or is being
committed.

§8-15B-5. Judicial review.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this
section, any party adversely affected by an order of the commission
is entitled to appeal a decision of the commission to circuit
court, as provided in article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code.

(b) An action appealing a decision of the commission may only
be initiated in the circuit court where the political subdivision
is located. The appeal must be filed within ninety days from the
date of the entry by the commission of its final order. Upon an
appeal being taken and docketed with the clerk of the circuit
court, the circuit court shall proceed to hear the appeal upon the
original record made before the commission. Any party adversely
affected by a decision and final order of the circuit court has the
right to petition the Supreme Court of Appeals for a review of the
decision of the circuit court, as in other civil cases.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide meetings and
conference rights for members of municipal police and fire
departments. The bill also creates duties for the policemen and
firefighters’ Civil Service Commissions.